Sen. Schumer, Gov. Cuomo should ask more questions

The Bausch and Lomb building in Rochester.

New York Sen. Chuck Schumer has a track record of helping workers threatened with job loss when their companies change ownership. He should use his acquired skills to ensure, as best he can, that the new owners of Bausch + Lomb preserve as many jobs in Rochester as possible.

While the storied Rochester eye-care company's new owner, Valeant Pharmaceuticals of Canada, has indicated job cutbacks would most likely be in back office jobs, there were no assurances. Besides there are only so many jobs that aren't directly linked to the company's product lines.

As Patrick Burke said in his Outside Insights column last Sunday, it's time for political and community leaders to find out more about Valeant CEO J. Michael Pearson's plans for B+L. Schumer, who most recently has been pushing JP Morgan Chase to help absorb jobs from its Albion facility where 413 workers will be laid off in September, should huddle with Pearson. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has made job growth in upstate a priority, should join them.

Earlier this week during Goldman Sachs' 34th annual Global Healthcare Conference, Valeant's Howard Schiller, who is chief financial officer, described the B+L buy as "an opportunity to generate a return." He also was transparent in saying, "... and it wasn't because we wanted to be in eye care." More than a few workers at the downtown B+L building are understandably fearful that Valeant will "slash and burn" to get those returns, as some argue was done at Medicis, a dermatology company that was one of 25 snapped up by Valeant last year alone.

With Valeant's recent history of lean management and a record of having seen its shares rise by 800 percent since 2008, there are ample reasons to be concerned about the future outlook of B+L in Rochester. Though the deal, for the most part, has been sealed, Schumer and Cuomo still owe it to B+L workers and this community to press Valeant on its local workforce intentions.